On Saturday at 3pm, Graeme Murty will take charge of the second game in his second caretaker spell. Rangers face a Partick Thistle side they’ve already played twice this season, with both games ending in draws after the 90 minutes. The extra-time win in the cup was the only sustained dominance Rangers displayed in either of those games.
Partick Thistle come into the game after a good win against St. Johnstone. However, they have a number of injury issues at the moment, and consistent form has been hard to find.
PARTICK THISTLE LAST 5 LEAGUE MATCHES:
Motherwell (Away), 3-0 defeat
Kilmarnock (Home), 2-0 defeat
Dundee (Home), 2-1 win
Hamilton (Away), 0-0 draw
St Johnstone (Home), 1-0 win
In the recent draw against Hamilton, Thistle were unable to name a full 18 for the matchday squad. They’ve been forced to play Steven Lawless out of position, and during the week had only 9 fit players for training. Despite this, they’ve picked up 7 points in the last three games and kept some clean sheets. They’re almost certain to take a similar approach on Saturday as in previous games against Rangers. They’ll be organised, willing to break up the play if required, and look to the likes of Sammon to play on the counter. With Cerny back in goals now, they’ll likely be difficult to break down.
At the time of writing, the Rangers pre-match press conference has not been held. As such, I am unsure on the availability of certain players. Bruno Alves returns from suspension, but others would seem unlikely at this stage. A recent tweet from Cardoso suggested he needs an operation on his broken nose. Lee Wallace isn’t fit yet, and there’s been no news on Dorrans either way. Carlos Peña was training before the Hearts game, but was left out, most likely due to not quite being over his injury. He would be a possibility to make the bench.
There were good performances from a number of players against Hearts. I believe we’ll see only one change to the starting line-up.
MORE RANGERS STORIES
TEAM PREDICTION:
Foderingham
Tavernier
McCrorie
Alves
John
Candeias
Jack
Holt
Windass
Miller
Morelos
If Dorrans is fit, it’ll be interesting to see how we fit him in. Jason Holt certainly deserves to retain his place.
With so many unknowns for both teams, I’m going to miss out the key battles section. Suffice it to say, we’ll be looking for an even better performance than in our last game to win this one. Miller will be key, as it seems he’s more advanced on the park under Murty. Morelos needs a goal, but will still be one of our best performers regardless. If players like Peña and Herrera come off the bench, hopefully it’ll be with enough time to make an impact on a game already won. Too often, they’ve been asked to drag us out of trouble, which is never easy for a substitute.
I think Saturday will be a somewhat nervy affair. This squad seems far more comfortable away from Ibrox. We have a poor record at home this season, with only 5 points picked up in the games so far. However, I think that Thistle’s squad issues, and a start of some momentum for Rangers, will see us win the game 2-0.
How do you see the game going? Tweet us @rangersnewsuk with your predictions!